Hello all,
I'm new to bladesmithing, so thank you for your help and your patience in advance. So far I have found this forum to be invaluable for it's wealth of good information. So the last knife I made was a frame handle, however I made the frame out of wood. So I had Birdseye Maple scales with a Walnut frame for contrast. I liked the way it turned out and I have an idea that I don't know how to make happen. I want to make a frame handle with Birdseye Maple scales and a Curly Maple frame and spacer (I can't think of a reason that using wood for the frame or the spacer is a bad idea, so if there is one, please enlighten me). The difficulty for me is that I like the lighter color of the Birdseye simply clear coated with a Boiled Linseed Oil and I like the Curly Maple darker from a brown dye of some kind. Is there a way for me to accomplish this without the dye running out of the frame and into the scales? The only thing I can really think of is making it a "take down handle" but I don't see myself being able to remove the frame from the scales a bunch of times while keeping pins tight before gluing and also without breaking it as the frame can be a little thin. Any advice is appreciated!
Thanks,
Travis<><
I would not really know how to accomplish that with wood as the only components.
I make take-down knives, but with a steel frame to use screws for the scales.
Karl B. Andersen
Journeyman Smith
I would do this with two thin (.04 or .o6) liners, one on either side of the frame. You really do not want to use only wood for the frame as this is brittle and lacks the strength needed in the handle area where the most stress gets focused during use. I often take my frame handles apart several times during construction because I often do file work on the frame. I use a set of sacrificial pins and do all the handle shaping off of the knife. Then I replace the sacrificial pins with the final set and dome them after final assembly. By using the liners, you will add the needed rigidity to the frame and protect it from cracking during both use and construction.
Joshua States
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The liners would probably keep the stain from bleeding. That’s a great idea. In my mind I was thinking that doing a wooden frame wouldn’t be any different than just doing a hidden frame. Also the screws in your frame is something I’ve never seen.
Thank you both for your replies! Exactly the info I am looking for.
Travis<><
